Sundance 2027 in Boulder: Every Pass, Package and Deadline You Need to Know

For more than four decades, "going to Sundance" meant Park City, Utah: snow, shuttle buses and lines around the block on Main Street. That chapter is over. From January 21 to 31, 2027, the Sundance Film Festival holds its first edition in Boulder, Colorado, and the ticket sales that will decide who gets in are about to begin.

If you have always meant to go and never quite managed it, a brand-new host city is about as good an opening as you will get. Here's how the 2027 ticketing works.

What it is

Sundance is the most influential festival for American independent film, and a major stage for international independent cinema. According to Sundance Institute, the Boulder edition expands each of its four competitions (U.S. Dramatic, World Cinema Dramatic, U.S. Documentary and World Cinema Documentary) to 12 films. Special world premieres are concentrated in the first half, January 21–26, and the awards are announced on January 29.

Venues sit within roughly a two-mile radius, including Macky Auditorium on the University of Colorado campus, the Boulder Theater, Chautauqua Auditorium, the Dairy Arts Center, eTown Hall and Boulder High School. The Sundance Institute's own tour of the new home, embedded above, is a good orientation.

There's also an online festival from January 28–31, but streaming is limited to the United States and U.S. territories, and the festival says VPN use will be detected.

Who can attend

Anyone who buys a ticket. Some top-tier passes are restricted to donors, and the cheapest options, under the Ignite program, are for attendees aged 18–25 and enrolled students of any age.

Key dates

• October 5, 8 and 13: donor and member presales
• October 15, 2026: public sale of passes and packages
• December 8, 2026: free Ignite registration opens (required for $15 Ignite tickets)
• January 8, 2027, 10 a.m. MT: public single-ticket sale (presales January 6–7)

What it costs (all prices include fees)

Packages (10 tickets each, on sale October 15):

• Full Festival Ticket Package – $925: valid January 21–31.
• Encore Ticket Package – $675 (new): encore screenings only, not first public screenings, January 22–31.
• Second Half Ticket Package – $450: January 27–31.
• Matinee Ticket Package – $350 (new): screenings starting before 5 p.m., January 25–29.
• Ignite Ticket Package – $275: 10 in-person plus 5 online tickets, January 24–31, for ages 18–25 and students.

All packages give early film selection before single tickets go on sale and let you change selections up to four hours before a screening.

Passes (unlimited in-person screenings with priority access): Full Festival Express Pass $7,500 and First Half Express Pass $6,100 (both donors only), and Second Half Express Pass $4,500, which goes on public sale October 15.

Single tickets: $37, or $15 with Ignite, from January 8.

Online: Online Festival Pass $825, 10-ticket online package $350, Short Films Pass $45, an online bundle at $60 and single online tickets at $37.

How to buy, step by step

1. Create an account on festival.sundance.org before October 15, so you aren't registering in the middle of the rush.
2. Choose your window. First-half premieres are glamorous, but the second half, with the Second Half or Matinee packages, is cheaper and less crowded.
3. Buy your package on October 15 (or during a presale if you're a member or donor).
4. Book lodging early. Sundance runs an official lodging guide at lodging.sundance.org.
5. Pick your films in January. Package holders get early selection before the January 8 single-ticket sale.
6. Under 26 or a student? Register for Ignite when it opens on December 8.

Insider tips

• The Ignite package is the best value on the page. $275 for 15 films, including 5 online, is less than $19 a screening.
• Encore screenings are your friend. The new Encore package skips the premiere-night scramble but lets you see the same films a day or two later.
• Volunteering is another route in. Sundance opened volunteer applications on August 31 at sundance.org/volunteer.
• Expect winter. Boulder in late January can be cold and snowy, so dress for lines outdoors.

A festival in a new city always has a little chaos, and a lot of discovery. Boulder's first Sundance will be talked about for years. If you want to say you were there, October 15 is the date to circle.